Storage equipment and brackets therefor



June 23, J. D DE T STORAGE EQUIPMENT AND BRACKETS THEREFOR Filed May 20. 1968 United States Patent 3,516,635 STORAGE EQUIPMENT AND BRACKETS THEREFOR Johan M. Daniel de Niet, 221 Northwood Hall, London N. 6, England Filed May 20, 1968, Ser. No. 730,356 Claims priority, application Great Britain, May 30, 1967, 24,795/67 Int. Cl. A47b 57/26 US. Cl. 248-245 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Adjustable bracket means for shelving comprising aluminum extrusion support members, channel shaped in cross-section, each of the channels having an inwardly extending vertically arranged dovetailed projection, each bracket comprising a vertical web having a fixed jaw formed on the end thereof, an adjustable jaw slidable on the inner end of the web with both jaws being convergent, and screw-threaded means for moving the adjustable jaw toward the fixed jaw to clamp the opposed side faces of the projections and thereby support the bracket, and spring means engaging the projections on the vertical web member and the sliding jaw member biasing the slidable jaw toward the fixed jaw.

The present invention relates to modifications of or addition to the storage equipment and brackets disclosed in my co-pending US. patent application Ser. No. 564,097 filed July 11, 1966, now Pat. No. 3,400,831 (corresponding to British Pat. 1,089,325).

The said co-pending application discloses a bracket member comprising a vertical web, a fixed jaw formed at one end of said vertical web, an adjustable jaw means mounting said adjustable jaw on said vertical web for movement towards and away from said fixed jaw, and screw threaded clamping means for effecting movement of said adjustable jaw towards and away from said fixed aw.

The present invention has for one of its objects the provision of spring means resiliently urging the adjustable jaw towards the fixed jaw, so that the bracket can support itself at any height along the upright support prior to the clamping means being tightened.

The invention has as a further object the provision of inexpensive but reliable edge trim and clip means facilitating the attachment of a shelf to an individual bracket.

One form of bracket and edge trim and clip means in accordance with the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a bracket and a support member;

FIG. 2 is an end vie-w of the spring means, and

FIG. 3 is a sectional end elevation showing the bracket, shelf, edge trim and clip means.

The bracket and support member are generally similar to those described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings accompanying the complete specification of British Pat. No. 1,089,325, to which reference should be made.

In this embodiment, however, the tongues 19 are omitted, and the adjustable jaw 16 is retained against the adjacent face of the bracket 13 and urged towards the "ice fixed jaw by a retaining spring 40, formed from a single length of wire.

The spring, which is symmetrical about the axis AA, has a medial portion 41 which is joggled to overlie the central neck-like portion 16A of the jaw 16. From the medial portion 41, the spring extends first vertically outwardly towards a loop 42, then slopes inwardly and away from the face of the bracket and away from the fixed jaw along a straight portion 43 towards a second loop 44 and then outwardly again to terminate in a hook or end portion 46. The spring is strained by engaging the hooks about the clamping screws 17 within housings 18A for the screws.

The spring presses the jaw 16 against the adjacent face of the bracket, and urges it towards the fixed jaw 14. With the screws 17 retracted, the bracket is readily engaged with the projection 12 of a support member 11 by engaging the adjustable jaw with the outer undercut face of the projection, and then forcing the bracket inwardly, against the action of the spring, to engage the fixed jaw 14 over the projection 12. The bracket can then be slid up or down the support member to any desired position, and will support itself at any desired position, leaving the user with both hands free to tighten the screw 17 when the bracket is suitably positioned.

The spring 40 also acts to prevent fortuitous removal of the adjustable jaw by virtue of the engagement of the portions 43 with the shoulders 21 of the jaw.

A further modification resides in the manner of mounting the clamping screws 17. The housings 18A are each formed as a sheet metal pressing having a base portion secured, as by spot welding, to the bracket, and an inverted U-shaped portion penetrated by the screw 17 Within the U-shaped portion, the screw is engaged by a square nut which is located with clearance between the side walls of the Uportion, this clearance being taken up by the action of the spring 40, whose hooked ends engage over the screws and press the nuts against the side wall away from the fixed jaw.

FIG. 3 illustrates a further modification, residing in an improved construction facilitating securing of a shelf to one of the brackets. For this purpose, each end edge of the shelf is provided with an edge trim conveniently formed by extrusion of synthetic plastics material of generally T-shaped cross section. More specifically the trim 50 has a vertical flange 51 having a main horizontal flange 52 and a secondary flange 53 received in a rebate in the edge of shelf 54, to which it is secured by any suitable fastener means, such as screws. The flange 52 fits against the lower surface of the shelf, and is provided on its own lower surface with a projection 56 of dovetail cross section to receive a clip 57. The clip, which has a short vertical limb 58 and a horizontal limb 59, is preferably formed as a plastics moulding which makes a friction tight fit on the dovetail 56.

A shelf provided with the edge trim and clip described above, is readily securely engaged with its bracket by moving the shelf horizontally inwardly (towards the uprights 11), so that the trim flange 52 slides over the top of a horizontal flange 60 integral with vertical web 13. When the clip reaches the outer end of flange 60, it is deflected resiliently downwardly to engage under the flange until it comes into register with a flange recess 60A and snaps into engagement therein, to lock the shelf against inadvertent withdrawal from the bracket.

Such an edge trim and clip construction could, 'of course, be employed with brackets and storage equipment other than those described herein.

I claim:

1. In a bracket member comprising a vertical web, a fixed jaw formed at one end of said vertical web, an adjustable jaw means mounting said adjustable jaw on said vertical web for movement towards and away from said fixed jaw, and screw threaded clamping means for effecting movement of said adjustable jaw towards and away from said fixed jaw, the improvement which comprises a spring retainer consisting of a single length of spring wire, said retainer having a medial portion engaging said adjustable jaw and opposed end portions, and fixed abutment means on said vertical web, said end portions engaging said abutment means and reacting thereagainst to press said adjustable jaw towards said fixed jaw.

2. The improved bracket member of claim 1, wherein UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,737,268 3/ 1956 Smith 248-245 X 2,767,951 10/ 1956 Cousino 248245 3,400,831 9/1968 Deniet 211--176 ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner J. F. FOSS, Assistant Examiner U.S. C1. X.R. 

